Teen Swarmed by Cops After AI Metal Detector Flags His Doritos Bag as a Gun

Further evidence that artificial intelligence is not all that intelligent has been provided by an unfortunate incident in Baltimore, where, thanks to an AI-guided security system, local police nearly arrested a teenager for the crime of…eating Doritos?

According to NBC affiliate WBAL-TV 11, a teenager who entered his high school’s campus through an automated security system had a crumpled-up bag of chips in his pocket. The system appears to have flagged the bag as a weapon, the outlet writes. The boy in question, Taki Allen, says that, following his football practice, he was sitting outside the school with a group of his friends when a large band of police officers showed up.

“It was like eight cop cars that came pulling up for us. At first, I didn’t know where they were going until they started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground,’ and I was like, ‘What?’” Allen told WBAL-TV 11 News.

“They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me,” the teen added. “Then, they searched me, and they figured out I had nothing. Then, they went over to where I was standing and found a bag of chips on the floor.”

When asked what he was thinking about as the ordeal unfolded, Allen replied: “It was mainly like, am I gonna die? Are they going to kill me? They showed me the picture, said that looks like a gun, I said, ‘no, it’s chips.’”

A statement provided by the school’s principal to the news outlet sheds more light on the incident:

At approximately 7 p.m., school administration received an alert that an individual on school grounds may have been in possession of a weapon. The Department of School Safety and Security quickly reviewed and canceled the initial alert after confirming there was no weapon. I contacted our school resource officer (SRO) and reported the matter to him, and he contacted the local precinct for additional support. Police officers responded to the school, searched the individual and quickly confirmed that they were not in possession of any weapons.

Neither police nor school officials have confirmed the involvement of the Doritos bag, but they haven’t denied it either. Gizmodo reached out to Allen’s school, Kenwood High School, as well as to Baltimore County police for comment.

WBAL-TV 11 says the company behind the detector, Omnilert (which calls itself a “pioneer in AI-powered active shooter prevention technology”), provides security systems for Baltimore County Public Schools. The outlet says that Allen’s school began using the company’s software last year to detect potential threats to campus. Omnilert’s website states that it sells an AI gun detection solution to schools. Gizmodo reached out to Omnilert for comment.